


Only Human

by NomadicStardust



Series: Only Human/Only Lance [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Lance (Voltron), Balmeran Hunk (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra Shiro (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Human Lance (Voltron), I'm supposed to be studying for finals, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Langst, Olkari Pidge | Katie Holt, Platonic Relationships, Rebellion Leader Lance, Short & Sweet, Why Did I Write This?, if you squint maybe you'll see all the ships, or you'll hurt your eyes, toss up really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 07:32:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16949694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NomadicStardust/pseuds/NomadicStardust
Summary: Seems like everyone else on the team has a special alien power now, like being insanely talented wasn't enough, so what can Lance do when he isn't anything special? After all, he's only human.





	Only Human

Shiro had been first. The Galra, in their mad experiments for the perfect soldier, had fused Shiro’s DNA with that of a Galra and made him something different. Something not human. No one noticed at first... but after a few months in Space, he began to change.

It was small at first; a little stronger every day, temper a little shorter, and hearing a little better. Everyone chalked it up to training and stress until he could hear Pidge swear from two rooms over. Physical changes were next; yellow started permeating his sclera, his nails grew stronger and sharper, and his ears became more and more pointed. Soon he was unstoppable on the battlefield - maintaining total control of every situation with his strength and enhanced senses.

Shiro was definitely not human.

Hunk was second. Mowed down by Galra forces, with help hours away, he had made a pact with the balmera he was trying to protect. The Balmera infused him with its quintessence - not only healing him but granting him stony skin, that the team has yet to find something that could pierce it, and strength enough to lift nearly five tons. He took to standing as a shield for his friends, taking hits that would destroy the rest of them, and delighting local children with feats of strength. Even the new horns on his head just felt completely hunk that no one even thought it was weird and he used the strange new appendages to keep wires separate as he worked.

Hunk had become something more than human

Keith was next. The realization that he was half-Galra by birth, unlike Shiro’s mutation, was startling, but he too did not take long to start changing. Galra puberty proved to be a bitch as he shot up in height, muscle, and skill. His senses became far more pronounced as claws, fangs, and purple markings appeared on his body. The process aged him several years - no longer the body of a young teen, Keith came out an adult with with a powerful aggressive streak, that tore his enemies to shreds, and oddly protective instincts for the rest of the team. Training between Shiro and Keith often became a wild combat, like two wolves fighting for territory and they attacked each other with abandon.

Keith was more than human.

Pidge came after. Like Keith, a mixed-breed, unlike Keith, they were Olkari. The blood was farther back in their line, but visiting the tech-wizard’s planet had unleashed their potential. After little more than a month Pidge had mastered their new abilities; able to hear voices of technology around them and manipulate it with a wave of the hand. So long as they had tech, no one could reach them - making them virtually untouchable when infiltrating Galra ships. They had a knack for turning the Sentries against their masters… and then making them explode.

Although they looked human, Pidge was not.

Lance WAS human, 100%, no secret Altean ancestry or ancient unknown power that anyone could find (and they had CHECKED after the Pidge fiasco), no mad scientists or benevolent planets to infuse him with power. Lance was just… Lance. Loverboy from Cuba, sharpshooter, Blue Paladin of Voltron. Perfectly human and perfectly useless.

No one said it to his face of course, but he knew- it wasn’t very hard when _everyone_ could beat him in training with zero effort. Hunk had been relegated to standing in front of him during missions too. When Lance had demanded explanation during one briefing, Shiro said it was because he was vulnerable as a sniper; really more like vulnerable as a human. His sniper role was fake anyways - in just their last mission Keith had gotten annoyed at how long a shot was taking Lance, so he plucked the gun out of his hands and did it himself. Perfectly. In less than a second.

Logically Lance knew that the less-than-human attributes of his teammates came with their own share of troubles; Shiro had to avoid mirrors and, on bad day Keith, lest he trigger a PTSD attack, Keith’s anger was impossible to control, sending him flying into rages that took hours to overcome, Pidge couldn’t sleep for weeks after unlocking her abilities as the voices of the castle and its technology overwhelmed her, and Hunk had lost most of the feeling in his skin which drove him mad as physical comfort did nothing, but it was hard to remember that when the chips were down and the team spent most of every mission forced to protect him. It was humiliating.

Lance tried not to let them see it tho, and kept a smile plaster on his face for the sake of everyone. Being physically weaker was bad enough, showing mental weakness would just push his team to replace him all the faster… maybe an alien with mind reading powers, or Allura. Allura would make a great Paladin. He would do his best until then though, and who knew, maybe he wouldn’t be replaced…. And may Zarkon would surrender.

***

Lance woke to the feeling of gravity overtaking him as he fell out of the healing pod. No one was around to greet him, but that seemed to be the most common result anyways: Coran was busy running the castle and the others, well the others had better things to do than watch Lance in the pod for the 5th time that week.

Ignoring the voice whispering that everyone else always had someone to greet them, the blue paladin made his way to his room to change.The hallways were chilly and quiet, as if Lance were the only soul in the castle. Maybe he was. Maybe everyone else had gone on a mission without him. Not like it would change anything unless he was needed to form Voltron. Even then, their agitation with him bled through the link as he tried to keep up. Tried not to drag them down.

Shaking his head as if to dislodge the thoughts, Lance quickly changed into his casual clothes and made his way to the kitchen, eventually reaching the point where his pitiful human ears could hear the conversation inside that made him stop in his tracks.

“-getting ridiculous Shiro,” he heard Pidge complain. “He’s constantly getting hurt out there. Even Hunk can’t seem to protect him!”

Shiro sighed and Lance could imagine him running his hand through his hair. “I know it’s bad, but Lance is part of this team, we can just-”

“Can just _WHAT_ Shiro,” demanded another voice- Keith judging by the anger. “Watch him _DIE?!_ Because that’s what going to happen if we keep bringing him. He can’t keep up!”

“He’s an asset to this team and we need him.” Hunk said firmly. Lance perked up at his best friend’s defense of him, he knew Hunk would have his back. Then he heard Pidge’s harsh laugh.

“Hunk, I sent him and _you_ down the least defended part of the ship, only a handful of guards, and he STILL got blown sky high.”

“Shouldn’t we at least wait for Lance so he can have a say?” Shiro sounded defeated, worn away by the other’s arguments.

“We all know Lance thinks himself invincible and there is no way he would back down on his own.” Keith slammed his hand on the table. “His life takes precedence over his wounded ego. This is _WAR._ ”

No one argued him. Silence stretched towards the boy in the hallway as it slowly stretched into an uncomfortable stillness. Lance held his breath and leaned closer, not daring to take a step lest he give himself away to their heightened senses, eyes watering as he waited for someone to defend him. Needed someone to defend him and defy the voices in his head. Defy the logic that Keith and Pidge demanded.

“...Is there no other way?” muttered Hunk, voice barely at the edge of his hearing.

“I don’t think so,” Keith’s voice was gentle, a stark contrast to the anger before. “Not if we want to win. Besides, we won’t even be down a Paladin - Allura is certain she can fly the Blue Lion without a problem…. It’s the best option.”

He couldn’t listen anymore. His team didn’t need him. He was replaceable. Useless. The weak link. Turning with a sob, he ran. The Cuban boy could hear Shiro call for him, probably reacting to the noise, but he refused. He ran endlessly, taking random turns and unsure of where he was going, but the dust spoke of its disuse. Eventually, out of breath, he entered a room at random, locked the door, and collapsed as tears streamed down his face.

***

Lance was unsure how long he cried. Minutes. Hours. It didn’t matter because he was a no one, a hindrance...but eventually the tears stopped and he could take stock of where he was.

The room was a hanger, long abandoned with tools lay strewn on the floor. Three ships, one on its side, framed the edges next to computer stations that were obviously for repair and were different than the ones he had seen upstairs. They looked more like cargo vessels than fighters or diplomatic vehicles. Lance laughed at the thought, a perfect place for him then, and took a closer look at the vessels. Lance was by-and-far NOT a tech guru, but he wasn’t stupid; every Garrison pilot was required to have a basic knowledge so they could repair the ship if necessary. The ships had the same type of tech as the diplomatic vessels that were near the lions, but immediately he could see two of the ships were completely out of commission with large chunks of their engines missing. The last one, however, closest to the airlock, seemed ok. It wasn’t functioning, but it could probably be repaired. Probably.

Lance was torn. He could probably stay hidden in here until he fixed the ship and leave, but did he really want to was the question. Space was an unknown, dangerous (as he had experienced many times before), and he was probably on the wrong side of the universe to ever see Earth again without Allura’s wormholes. Additionally he lacked money and supplies to make it very far anyways. But he couldn’t stomach being useless, a mouth to feed and protect without a purpose of his own. Couldn’t stand the frustration of his teammates as he once again lagged behind… it had been bad enough when they were all still human (or at least when they appeared so).

He got to work running diagnostics. checking the machine inside and out to the best of his abilities. The results and the schematics he found were little help as they were entirely in Altean, but he could tell that he was missing a few parts. Hopefully he could find them in the remains of the other vessels.

Hours past with methodical work as the cargo vessel moved slowly to completion, taking breaks occasionally to rest and, sometimes, cry. Lance revealed in the challenge of repairing it; he hadn’t had a personal project since they left the Garrison; Pidge and Hunk commandeering ever ounce of tech they could find (including Lance’s cellphone) and the one he left on earth, a mechanical bird that sung Spanish lullabies, had probably been destroyed by Iverson. The past didn’t matter though, he had a goal now and was determined to see it to completion.

It took five days to finish, maybe a bit more- many of the parts impossible warped from 10,000 years of sitting, leaving him to completely scrap the other two and even then he had even been forced recreate the fuel lines using the tubes from a old goo machine he found in another room. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked and worked well, just like his Abuelo’s truck (which made him smile for just a moment). Satisfied he left to gather supplies.

For the first couple of days of his project he had been anxious that the others would hunt him down every time he left the hanger and stop him, but after day three he was sure they didn’t care enough and relaxed. This whole area was abandoned and, as far as Lance could tell, had once housed the castles common militia, probably before Allura and Coran had been frozen, making it very spacious and supply dense. That last part allowed the boy to freely fill his refurbished ship with anything he thought he might need, including a portable food goo dispenser that was necessary, but less than pleasing to think about; he would miss Hunk’s food.

He couldn’t help Voltron, his team didn’t want him, and he could help Earth, his family could survive without him even if they missed him, but maybe he could help others, people Voltron couldn’t reach and needed someone, even if that someone was a weak human. It was a chance, but one he was willing to try for if it meant he could be needed. Could be wanted.

He didn’t even turn around as he flew away.

***

Voltron was in shambles- nine months after losing Lance, the team had thoroughly imploded. Turned out Allura _COULDN’T_ pilot the blue lion and the replacement the managed to secure was so completely alien to them they still couldn’t form Voltron. The alien, Ba’laan, was incredibly fluid, moving like liquid through battles and never getting hit, however he thought individuality was the root of all destruction and spent most of their bonding time trying to convince their new teammates of the joys of living as a hive-mind. They started sleeping in shifts after Keith found Ba’laan in his room trying to hide something in his pillow. Keith had burned everything and, after telling the other, they agreed that a new paladin was needed, soon.

Luckily Galra forces had been rather divided of late. Chatter picked up by Pidge spoke of a new, powerful resistance, thousands in strength, lead by someone only known as the Quartermaster was was quickly clearing their influence from the center of the universe, leaving Voltron to struggle along the edges. It infuriated Allura.

“What is wrong with you paladins,” demanded the Princess after the team hobbled away from a nasty battle. “We are VOLTRON, defenders of the weak and the strongest combatants the universe has ever seen, so _WHY_ are we barely scraping by? This ‘Quartermaster’ is doing infinitely better than you lot, so perhaps I should invite _them_ to pilot instead - I bet they would end the war within the week!”

“Allura enough,” groaned Shiro from the couch, face still burning from being too close to one of the explosions. “It does no good to get upset when we can’t even form Voltron, which is our own fault because we chased Lance away.”

“Oh come on, we’d be in the same boat with him here. Except Lance would be in a pod right now... Or dead. Hell, he might be dead now.” Pidge’s breath hitch at the thought as she lay on the floor, wrist casted until they could set it properly and get her in the pod. She quickly sat up and looked at Hunk”He isn’t dead, right? I mean, we did this to keep him safe, he wouldn’t die after all that, right?”

Lance isn’t dead... I can’t believe you still don’t understand how wrong we were,” Hunk was draped over a table, not injured but completely exhausted. “Lance wasn’t as strong as Keith and Shiro, or as smart as you, but none of us have an _OUNCE_ of emotional strength and that's what they’re killing us with. We haven’t managed to make a single alliance since Lance left, those we do have will hardly talk to us, none of us know how to de-escalate a situation, and we don’t trust Ba’laan which is leaving us exhausted from making sure he doesn’t hive-mind us. Lance was essential for the _non-combat_ parts and he was hella useful in battle too when we gave him a chance. He was protecting _US._ ”

“It’s our fault for thinking we could replace part of him and expect everything to still work.” mumbled Keith. “We messed up. He kept getting hurt because we stopped seeing things from a normal perspective, a _human_ perspective, and dived into situations that would have killed us before. We didn’t use his skills and just blamed him for failing to meet impossible expectations.”

“ok...we fucked up,” admitted Pidge, covering her face with her hands and Shiro berated her language choice. “We fucked up and actually need Lance, but it’s not like we can do anything about it now. We can’t even begin to get the manpower to find him.”

“True,” muttered Allura, turning away from the paladins as she had a thought. “But this Quartermaster seems to have amassed quite a defense. Perhaps we could convince them to help.”

“But how do we even find them? Their rebel forces are never in the same place twice… they’re impossible to track.”

“Not if they sent us an invitation.” Allura pulled up a screen, showing a set of coordinates and the Quartermaster’s symbol; a seashell with five stars on it. “I received it a few days ago, but hadn’t though to accept since we were having our own difficulties without walking into a trap. If it helps, however, I say we accept and see if we can either get their help or steal some information that might lead us to Lance”

***

They stood in a room that looked more like the captain’s quarters of a pirate ship than of a rebel leader. Knickknacks dotted the shelves and the table was a mess of information, both printed and digital. Voltron, minus Ba’laan who was worse than Keith with diplomacy, were beginning to become agitated as they waited on the Quartermaster to meet them.

“You are lucky that the Quartermaster wishes to meet at all,” scoffed Gilak, the small green alien who seemed to be the Quartermaster’s aide. “If he hadn’t sympathized with you plight as fellow freedom fighters I can assure you that your paths would have never crossed.”

Keith growled low in his throat, but it was Allura who spoke up. “Be that as it may Master Gilak, but we _were_ invited and do not have much free time to devote to standing here.”

“Then I suppose I should make my entrance,” said a cheerful voice from behind them. The team turned around to find a tall, lithe individual. Their exact body shape was obscured by a thick cloak of deep blue decorated in the symbol of the Quartermaster, and his face was covered by a strange mask of white and gold that spiraled around until it almost looked like waves. The man waved a dismissal at Gilak, who bowed and quickly scurried away, and then sat behind the desk. “You’ll have to forgive him, he been quite overprotective since we found Galra spies in our midst.”

“Certainly you don’t think-”

“No, no,” assured the Quartermaster as he interrupted Allura. “I have it on the best intel that Voltron is 100% free of spies. You have my complete trust... but still, I’ll get to the point since your were so agitated from waiting a moment ago.. It’s true I initiated this little soiree and sent you that invitation, but I am well aware that it would have been ignored unless you needed something. So my question to you is, what do you want from me?”

“I will not hesitate then. We are seeking a lost party member, the blue paladin Lance, and are in desperate need of his return.”

The figure started a little bit and then leaned back in his chair. Threading his fingers together, he eyed the group before him expression lost beneath the mask.

“Perhaps my intel is not as robust as I thought… here I believed you had already found a replacement for the blue Paladin. Why the sudden search for him?”

“He is a vital part of our team,” interjected Shiro with confidence. “We wanted to keep him safe and removed from battle, but it turns out that is to our detriment.”

The masked Quartermaster cackled harshly, setting the team on edge.”Vital?! Paladins, excuse me for laughing but every shred of information I ever received about the one you call Lance has painted him as a useless tag-along, more prone to getting injured that actually contributing to the team. Certainly your better off without him?”

“Don’t speak about Lance like you know him,” snarled Keith, yellow eyes flashing with anger. “He has more skill in a singer finger than you will ever have!”

“Temper, Red Paladin, and you have yet to answer me. What makes Lance so important now? If he _is_ so important, then why are you only going after him now? You must admit it’s been quite a while since he stopped appearing on your team.”

“... We didn’t realize how much we needed him at first.” admitted Hunk after a minute of tense silence. “We missed him from the beginning… but we thought he would be safer away from the frontlines because he kept getting hurt. It took a while to understand just how much we lack with him gone, how much he contributed to everything we did.”

“We didn’t realize we were the reason he kept getting hurt,” continued Pidge, who was trying hard not to cry. “We- I started to expect Lance to be like us instead of himself.”

“Isn’t that normal? To expect your teammates to rise to your standards?” The figure pushed gently, as if unsure of the answer.

N-no, i mean… We should all expect each other to improve, but that’s not what it was. I forgot Lance’s skills were different and kept sending him into situation destined to… destined to hurt him.”

“Lance’s talent lies in diplomacy, empathy, stealth, and creativity,” continued Shiro as he put his human arm around Pidge, who was now sobbing quietly. “Not in heightened senses or impervious defense. Lance doesn’t need stuff like that, doesn’t need to be more than what he is, more than simply human, to be a vital member of our team and we were blind not to see it. He is our humanity and we’re truly lost without him; Voltron is a failure without his skills and talents. Please, we need your help to find him.”

They waited in silence as the Quartermaster mulled over the information, hands absentmindedly playing with ball that stretched like slime. Much of the figures body language was lost behind the cloak and the mask, but Keith could see the tenseness in their shoulders and movement as his leg bounced against the ground. It made the mask person, less intimidating… more sympathetic that when they were questioning them. Finally the Quartermaster broke the silence.

“I am willing to help you find the missing Paladin, but it won’t come freely.” said the figure, standing tall behind the desk.

“Name your price,” agreed Allura. “So long as it is within Voltron’s power, I will personally ensure its success.”

“Then this will be an easy condition to meet, Princess.” the figure promised as he reached for the mask. “Because all I want... is to be part of the team again.”

Everyone gasped as the Quartermaster’s mask fell away, revealing Lance with a hesitant smile and new scar that went over his left eye and down to his chin. Before he could utter a single word, the breath was knocked from his lungs as a rather wet, Pidge-shaped missile collided with his chest and collapsed his knees. Lance could feel the tears soaking his shirt and Pidge clung to him.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I was wrong, I’m sorry…” Pidge gasped between sobs as Hunk made it over, crushing them both in a hug that was too strong but comforting nonetheless. It ended as quickly as it came when a gasp escaped Lance’s throat and Hunk realized what he’d done. But then Keith and Shiro were there; Keith holding Lance from the back as tightly as Pidge, while Shiro gently embraced him from the front, careful not to suffocate the gremlin attached to his waist.

Eventually Hunk returned with a far gentler hug and the five sat together for a long time. Lance knew everything wasn’t just going to be magically better after this, they were only human after all, but it was a start… and Lance missed them too much to stay mad, especially when they did it because they didn’t want to see him die. And so he sat, and soaked up the feeling of belonging.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, yes. I know there is a LOT of plot not answered. Technically, there is a part 2 to this disaster, but I'm not going to post it until after my other series "Memories of a King" is updated... which will be after finals. It's bad enough I'm posting this now... but hype for the final season is real. The sequel will be published in series, not chapter, so if you want just enjoy this as a one shot.
> 
> Thanks for reading guys, you make my day!


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